Very disappointing...

So much average

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

There is a scene where a Japanese battalion commander orders his troops to bring a flamethrower operator into the bunker and to treat him.Notwithstanding the BS that a flamethrower operator would be operating without infantry support, it is a reminder that not all the Japanese were brainwashed fools.On the other hand, the next scene involves 2 captured and secured Japanese prisoners receiving summery executions at the hands of one of their watchers.While atrocities were conducted by (unequally) both sides, and unless you believe the propaganda that this movie and "Inglorious Basterds" will have you believe, the overwhelming evidence supports that US and Allied forces followed the Geneva Convention as well as the situation allowed.

I have watched this movie on Netflix before it was removed. I have not watched "Flags of our fathers" so I can't compare this movie with its other half, but I found it a good representation of the Japanese, even if maybe the feelings represented are influenced by an American writing of the story.For example the Japanese military police is represented in a harsh way that I have not seen in Japanese movies. The necessity and responsibility the Japanese soldiers felt to defend their country is quite well, maybe not to its full extent, represented, which I imagine could have been difficult to write and watch for Americans. I feel the true Japanese side, ad was felt now, of the events is kind of Americanized or maybe softened in this movie (compare for example with The Emperor in August). On the other hand maybe this movie tells one Japanese side of the history of the war which wouldn't be completely easy to tell by the Japanese without some outside influence.Watanabe is great as usual and the movie is visually good. It lacks"greatness" but it's a nice watch.

As the movie opens, a group of men are climbing up a mountain and then down into a cave in the side of that mountain. The men look like modern Japanese workers in white uniforms. When the camera pulls back, we see that the mountain seems to be the only one on an otherwise desolate- looking island and that it is not far from the beach of the island. The white mountain--Mount Suribachi--sticks up like Devil's Tower or one of those rocky thumb-like structures that juts up in Monument Valley, often seen in one of John Ford westerns. We soon hear distant voices, coming closer, as an almost seamless transition takes us to Japanese soldiers digging trenches on a beach. We realize that this is a the 60-year flashback where the movie's story will unfold. Under orders from their commanding officer, the soldiers are digging endless trenches in perpetration for the coming invasion from the Americans. Among themselves, the soldiers are joking and complaining, 'Why would the Americans want THIS'?..'If they want it they can have it'!! The movie, at times, seems surprisingly peaceful for a war movie. In fact, the main conflicts seem to be between the Japanese officers--at different command levels—and the common soldiers that serve under them.As the 140-minute movie unfolds, we become intimately acquainted with about five major soldiers—officers and subordinates--in the Japanese Imperial armed forces. We get to know them through their conversations, attitudes, flashbacks of their pasts, and responses to unfolding events during their doomed defense of Iwo Jima. Their job is to defend the island against the American invasion that they know is coming and that most realize will fail in the end. At this point in the war, America is on the offense and Japan is in retreat, or at least, in a defensive mode. However, Iwo Jima is critical as a gateway to the Japanese mainland, and the commanding officers know it.When the commanding officer of the campaign, Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe), arrives, his first step is to stop the trench building and establish a fort-like encasement—with tunnels and caves--within Mount Suribachi. Lieutenant Ito (Shido Nakamura) is a strict officer who disciplines his men beyond what is necessary and would rather die for his Emperor than surrender to the enemy. When Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara) arrives on Iwo Jima, he is treated like a celebrity due to his recent Olympic victories as Japan's equestrian champion. The cast is rounded out by an idealistic young military policeman, Shimizu (Ryo Kase), and a young soldier, Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), who is a baker in civilian life. With a wife and young child at home, he wants to live rather than die for the Emperor or the Empire of Japan. His idealism is that of a family man, not a fallen hero. The movie is about these principal characters, their interpersonal relations, and the way they see and respond to the prolonged battle when it arrives.Strange to say, but this is not an overly violent movie for a war movie. True, there are constant American bombardments in the background, but the movie centers more on the men, Japanese and American, than the gore of war. The face of the American soldier is rarely seen. But when it is, it is the face of one human to another—for better or worst. ONE SCENE involves a wounded American GI from Oklahoma who is taken into the cave and dies there. When a letter is found on him, the General, translates it to his Japanese soldiers. It sounds just like a letter that they would write home to their family. ANOTHER SCENE involves a Japanese soldier trying to surrender to the Americans. When the Americans don't know what to do with him, one soldier tells them to shoot him.The fact that the movie shows human frailties and fears, as well as the common bond of one man for another, gives us the impression that it is more of an anti-war movie than a war movie. Evidently the screenplay was written using unearthed letters, later discovered in the caves of Mount Suribachi, written by the Japanese men who were there. As you might expect from Clint Eastwood's direction, this is a winner that unfolds slowly and should be relished.

This film recreates the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of Japanese soldiers who fought there. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film has screenplay by Iris Yamashita and the participation of Ken Watanabe, Tsuyoshi Ihara and Kazunari Ninomiya.This film follows another, "Flags of our Fathers", and isn't just another war film focused on World War II. This film shows the crudeness of war, especially in its psychological and human aspect. It seeks to show that, in war, there are no winners or losers because everyone loses, there are no good guys or bad guys, but survivors. Japan, during this historical period, had a mentality focused on patriotism, honor and worship to victory. For them, losing was less dishonorable than escape, in a militaristic code very similar to what was adopted by the Spartans before. Another point raised by the film, although in a more subtle way, is the wartime advertising: for the Japanese, the enemy was always demonized for instigating soldiers to fight to the end, following the precepts of their militarist philosophy and honor code.The actors were up to the challenge, particularly Ken Watanabe, whose character, General Kuribayashi, represents the contradictions of war: after studying and living in the United States before the war, he was now fighting the Americans and taking advantage of his knowledge of their military tactics to anticipate their movements. The use of Japanese language in the film really helped to make it more genuine and also sounds nice. The photograph, heavy and gray, fits well in a film like this and there are certain scenes when it contributes greatly to its beauty. The costumes and weapons are historically accurate and the special, visual and sound effects have enormous quality. The sound is really good and gives great impact to combat scenes. The soundtrack, written by Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens, is very interesting, especially the main theme, with a slightly oriental sounding, like a melancholic wail.I usually don't like a lot of Clint Eastwood movies, but I must say I was impressed with this. It deserves to be seen by all who like a good war movie, action or a movie linked to historical events. If it's true that all those who don't remember History are doomed to repeat it, this movie might help that this never happens again.